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SD 3, SF 2: Ninja helps the Friars beat the Giants

Good pitching from Despaigne, good hitting from Venable and Amarista, and a looooooooot of strikeouts.

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

After an little needed day off after leaving the scorching Arizona desert, having dropped the series against the Diamondbacks, the Padres hit the road to finish their away trip in San Francisco. The series against the Giants is being hoisted as a crucial turning point for a slumping San Diego ball club. With pricey acquisitions not yet proving their value, and an overall team record not living up to the hype, the Friars look to effectively turn a frown upside down in this series.

"Hey.. HEY! A rabbit in the hat!"

Starting that off on the mound is Odrisamer Despaigne, a hero at the substitute level turned villain at the replacement level. Despy has had a few rocky starts, and his last one against Oakland was, well, not so great. But today? Much better! He went 5 innings, giving up two earned runs in the fifth. He only K'd two Gnats and walked two, but kept the Friars very much so in the game.

Pat Murphy and the home plate umpire discuss the season finale of Game of Thrones.

The Friars' offensive response came amid a collective 16 strikeouts by the time the game went into extras. A Yonder Alonso walk and a Will Middlebrooks double set up Will Venable to zip a hit down the line to knock everybody in and tie the game at 2-2. Things would stay stagnant into the ninth, and some solid pitching from Joaquin Benoit and Brandon Maurer gave the lineup more opportunities to notch the go-ahead run.

The at-bat that would break the extra inning back-and-forth would come from none other than Alexi Amarista. After a double from Derek Norris after a handful of strikeouts, the Ninja blasted a hit up the middle, deflecting off pitcher Hunter Strickland's glove. With two on, Austin Hedges pulled a line drive right into the glove of Joaquin Arias for an inning-ending double play.

But it didn't matter, the Padres were up and Craig Kimbrel was in. Introduced to the sound of Hell's Bells ringing through the stadium swarming with seagulls. One out, walk, two out, three out. Padres win before midnight, and the seagulls feast on the bodies of every Giants fan in attendance that night.


Source: FanGraphs
The Padres straight up out-clutched the Giants and owned the last half of the game.

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Total comments 157
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Commenter list Burdock, DPadres69, Darklighter, Jay Stokes, Jlad00, KPWest, MeanMachine, Mr. Meadows, Ron Mexico, Smoove V, WestCoastPat, daveysapien, hashtagtroll, johnnyblazer, jthunder93, nbkoy2c, overkill94DT, roydjt, shawman35, whithd3
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jthunder93 kept the discussion strong as everybody was treated to free baseball. Burdock won the rec game, though.